Food product in form of dry powder and method of making the same



Patented Nov. 6, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT TOFFICE.

FLOYD W BOBISON, F DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

I'OOD PRODUCT IN FORM OF DRY POWDER AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME.

ll'o Drawing.

\ Various efl'orts have heretofore been made to preserve fruit juiceeither by concentrating the juiceuand adding sufiicient sugar to makethe product self-preservative or by 1 adding the juice to an absorbentand drying material. Neither of these methods has been foundcommercially successful. The first method of concentrating the juiceimpairs the flavor due in part to vaporization of the volatile productthrough heat applied in the process and the second plan isunsatisfactory in its result particularly in that the product. onrestoration to liquid form is insipid and flat in flavor. If, in suchprocess, sugar is used as an absorbent for natural fruit juice thequantit of suger necessary to make the product sel -prserva-. tive is sogreat that, on reconstitution by the addition of water to secure properfluidity, vthe reconstituted product is too sweet.

As previously stated, to attempt to concentrate the natural fruit juiceis to a great extent impracticable or productive of an un-' taste isproduced through the heating and loss of the volatile flavoring matterand my I invention seeks to provide aprocess by means.

- gether.

satisfactory result particularly in that a bad- Appiicatlon filed March23, 1927. Serial No. 177,839.

With one pound of granulated sugar I mix 113 grams concentratedcommercial pectin. I

6 grams citric acid in the case of oran e or lemon or the tartaric andmallic acid found in grape. 4

25 cubic centimeters of fresh juice expressed from the fruit and in thecase of citrous fruits like orange or lemon I add the powdered outerskin and fragrant ortion of the peel in quantity approximately that ofone-half to one orange or lemon of medium size and to this add coloringmatter consisting of tartrazine and orange 1 in proportion and quantityto give it the desired coloring.

These ingredients in substantially the portions stated arethoroughly'mixed in any approved manner and the product is then dried toa point where it contains approximately one-half of one per cent ofmoisture and at a temperature below that tending to vaporize thevolatile constituents.

The feature of this-invention is in the provision of comparatively smallquantity of the fresh juice of the fruit in comparison to the quantityof the material mixed to- The purpose of this is to keep the watercontent low at the time of mixing so that the drying process may beperformed so speedily at a low temperature. The sugar content'of themixture is in the neighborhoodof seventy-five per cent of its volume andin order to secure the natural characteristics ofsweetened fruit juiceupon restoring the material to fluidity ap roximating that of thenatural juice I a d the concentrated commercial acids and pectin of thefruit; If nothing but natural fruit juice was used tosecure the flavorand aroma the product would be flat or insipid if diluted to the pointwhere the liquid is not too sweet. The concentrated pectin andconcentrated fruit 'acids and flavors are at the present time dommonarticles of commerce being 'used for .diiferent purposes in themanufacture of the fruit products and for flavoring of soft drinks etc.In the case of the grape the concentrated true fruit flavors usuallyused for flavoring soft drinks is utiliz'edand 10o in the case oforanges and lemons I use orange and lemon juice. I use orange and lemonjuice containing crushed and macerated orange and lemon peel togetherwith the true fruit flavor obtained, in the case of grape, fromcarefully concentrated, extraced and precipitated grape products and, inthe case of lemons and oranges, from the crushed and macerated lemon andorange peel. While the concentrated acids and pectin are found incommercial use the addition of these alone to a suger base would notproduce on reconstitution the natural flavor and aroma of the fruit.This natural flavor and aroma I secure by the addition of acomparatively small quantity of the fresh juice expressed from the fruitand used practically immediately upon being expressed and previous todeterioration. With such sugar content and inadequate quantity of fruitjuice to make a desirable product when reconstituted, I add acids,flavoring and pectin in concentrated form to secure the necessarysharpness and tang of the fruit flavor and in so doing I avoid theproducing of a mass too fluid in form at the time of the mixingrequiring a long period of time for dr ing or requiring an applicationof heat w ich would result in an undesirable product.

With the sugar and the concentrated ac1ds, pectin etc., and the smallquantity of fruit uice I secure a product at the time of --the mixingwhose viscosity is very great,

the mass although very thick still is fluid to a certain degreepermitting it to be readily spread upon a tray in a thin sheet overwhich a current of cool and preferably dry air is passed to absorb themoisture content. To assist in the drying step I preferably stir themixture lightly. Any approved method. however, may be employed for thisdrying step providing that heat is not applied to such extent as wouldcause a material loss of volatile matter or cause a fusing or melting ofthe sugar. The product upon drying may be packaged in any approved wayin sealed receptacles or even unsealed receptacles as the product isself-preservative in form through having a sugar content in excess ofsixty per cent, this quantity of sugar content being sufficient topreserve the product even though it is not dried to that extent in whichit contains approximately onehalf of one per cent moisture.

Subsequent to the drying operation above described the product is passedthrough a mill with sieves for granulating, the purpose of this being toular or powdered product.

The quantities of material and the exact materials used depend largelyupon the character of the juice which it is desired to secure byreconstitution. For instance if a insure a uniform grangrape product isto be produced the formula will be as follows To 1 pound granulatedsugar is added 6 cubic centimeters of a pure heavy grape nice.

] 2 to 5 cubic centimeters of concentrated grape extract.

113 grams commercial pectin.

6 grams tartaric acid from grape.

2 grams certified red colorirg, amaranth.

gram ofcertified blue color, indigo disulpho acid.

These are mixed and dried in the manner above described.

This product is not only to be utilized in the preparation of a drinkwhich is the general purpose of the product in the proportions abovementioned but it may also be used in the making of jellies and the likeand for this purpose, in addition to the amount of pectin mentioned, Imay add an amount of dry pectin or heavy concentrated pectin dependingupon the amount necessary of each fruit pectin to produce a jellyingproperty, so it is to be understood that quite a wide variation in thespecific quantities mentioned is possible in the preparation of theproduct for which the powder is to be used but in any case the processis characterized by the fact that a subnormal amount of fruit juice ismixed with the sugar base and suificientquantity of concentrated fruitacid, fruit flavor and pectin is utilized to approximate the naturaljuice upon reconstitution and with the desired sweetness in sugarcontent either for use as a drink or in a ellying process. .It is thisparticular feature of the process which distinguishes the same fromprevious processes for a like pur- )OSG.

1 It will be evident from the foregoing that by applicants methodseveral things are accomplished. Firstby use of an inadequate amount ofnatural juice with an amount of sugar to secure self-preservation of themass the mixture is very low in water content and therefore I am able toreduce the same to substantial dryness without the use of heat to adegree detrimental in effect or sutlicient to materially reduce thevolatile matter and further, as it is desired to secure a liquidpalatably sweet upon reconstitution with water, water in excess of thatsupplied by the natural juice must be used and in order that thereconstituted volume may have the natural pro ortion of fruit juiceingredients an excess avoring matter (in the case of citrous fruitsnatural flavor secured by powdered outer skin) is added permittingintroduction of commercial concentrated acids and pectin to balance theflavor. Thus the reconstituted liquid has all of the ingredients of thefruit juice in normal proportion including the volatile elementsordinarily havin those 'fruit to secure t willbeunderstoo'd from theforegoing that the exact formula in any case will depend largely uponthe character of the juice -below that to give the reconstituted itisdesired to secure by reconstitution, two I instances of which arespecifically given above' In case of any fruit the procedure issubstantially the same and the appended claims are to be read with theunderstanding that variation in the ingredients and the specificquantities thereof may be made as is required by the character of thejuice to be secured by reconstitution with water.

Having thus briefly described my improved process and the productresulting therefrom what I .claim and desire to secure by Letters Patentof the United States is-- 1. The method of providing a substantially drypowder self-preservative in form characteristics of the natural juice ofa ruit palatably sweet upon reconstitution with water which consists infirst thorou hly mixing together a quantity of sugar su cient to secureself-preservation of the mass, a sub-normal quantity of the fresh juiceof the fruit, concentrated acids, flavor and pectin of the fruit tosecure normality in these constituents upon reconstitution, andsubmitting the mixed ingredients to a current of moisture absorbing airhaving a temperature below that tending to cause a material loss orchange in the volatile constituents other than water.

2. Themethod of providing a substantially dry powder having thecharacteristics of natural juice of citrousfruit palatably sweet uponreconstitution with water, which consists in mixing with a quantity ofsugar sufiicient to secure selfreservation of the mass a small quantityof fresh juice of the fruit together with suflicient concentrated acidsand pectin of the fruit to provide constituents in quantity lackingthrough the utilization of an inadequate amount of natural fruit juice,a quantity of owdered outer skin of the avoring matter normal to thequantity of the natural juice as reconstituted, and coloring matter tosecure a dethe crushed and I sired color when reconstituted with water,

the said mass being thoroughly mixed together and air dried at atemperature below that tending to materially reduce the volatilecontent.

3. The method of roviding a substantially d powder sel "-preservative inform and having the characteristics of the natural juice of a fruit uponreconstitution with water which consists in thoroughly mixing togethergranulated sugar in quantity suf ficient to secure self preservation ofthe mass, fresh juice of the fruit in quantity uct the flavor and aromarequired, sufllcicnt concentrated acid, flavor and pectin of the fruitand coloring matter to provide those constituents lacking in quantitythrou h the addition of the natural fruit juice ant dryin the mixedingredients at a temperature be ow that tending to cause material lossor change in the volatile constituents other than water.

4. The product, a self-preservative powder of crystalline form securedby drying the following ingredients substantially in the proportionstated-namely, 1 lb. concentrated sugar, 25 cubic centimeters of freshfruit juice, 113 grams concentrated commercial pectin of the fruit, 6grams concentrated acid of the fruit, coloring matter, and suflicientadditional natural fruit flavor which with that introduced with thefresh juice provides a, quantity normal in respect to the acids andectin constituents.

5. The nietho of procuring a substantially dry powder in crystallineform, having the characteristics of natural juice of citrous fruitpalatably sweet upon reconstitution with water which consists in maxingwith a quantity of sugar sufficient to secure self-preservation of themass, of a small quantity of natural fresh juice of the fruit,commercial concentrated acids and pectin of the fruit in proportionapproximating that of the excess sugar content, a quantity of crushedand powdered outer skin of the fruit to provide natural flavoring matterin proportion corresponding to the fruit acids and pectin content, andcoloring matter, the mass bein thoroughly mixed together and dried witout material reduction of the volatile content and providing asubstantially dry powder base that upon reconstitution with water inexcess of that supplied by the fresh fruit juice has all the elements ofthe natural fruit in nor- ,mal proportion to the reconstituted volume.

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of the fruit, and additional natural fruit flavor in quantityproportional to the excess sugar content, and coloring matter providinga mass capable of reconstitution with water to provide a palatabl sweetliquid with the fruit flavor, acid an pectin normal to the volumeasreconstituted.

7. A dry citrous fruit product crvstilline in form and self-preservativein c aracter capable'of reconstitution with water in excess of thevolume supplied by the natural fruit juice in preparing powder securedby.

drying of the following ingredients submatter normal to the acid andpectin content stantially in the proportion statedl 1b. whereby, uponreconstitution with water in 10 granulated sugar, 25 cubic centimetersof volume to secure a alatebly sweet roduct, fresh fruit juice, 113grams concentrated the acid, flavor and pectin of the uit are commercialpectin of the fruit, 6 grams normal to the reconstituted volume.

concentrated acid of the fruit; and a, sufii- In testimony whereof Isign this specificacient quantitv of the crushed and powdered tion.outer peel of the fruit to provide flavoring FLOYD W. ROBISON.

